Could a faulty hard drive have damaged a motherboard ?

[iamlookingforthebathroom]

Hi guys. A few days ago there was a power outburst for what i can think of and my computer stopped working (won't power up) . I realized soon that some components may be fried and I went to a computer service nearby where they told me that the PSU was dead. I changed the PSU and went back for more information after i noticed that replacing the power supply with a new one didn't change a thing. This time they said that the hard drive was fried and the motherboard is shutting the power to prevent further damage. Just to be sure i asked a friend to test if the hard drive was still working by installing it in his own computer but he experienced the same problem only this time after unplugging my hard drive from his SATA port , his computer started behaving like mine. It won't power up. He measured the voltage in some points and said that the hard drive was receiving current but the circuits from the main board connecting to the power switch weren't receiving any. Now i know my computer may have a fried motherboard and my hard drive could also be roast but what about his ? Can a faulty hard drive fry a motherboard ? Much obliged.

 

[Dr_JRE]

Have you tried doing a factory reset of the CMOS?
on the motherboard there is a jumper that when moved over 1 pin it will over write the BIOS with the factory settings.
Consult the system manual for the motherboard.

It is possible that it could have damaged the board, but in my experience, you typically only lose the channel for the attached device (in your case, the SATA controller)

try booting the system without any SATA plugged in.

::WARNING:: :: DANGER ::

If you have a working motherboard you have access to, check your parts and see if they are bad. the board might be good, you could have bad RAM and accidentally jostled the RAM out of place in the known good system.

Pull everything off the bad board but the bare minimum required to display a POST screen.
Still nothing?
Take the ram stick out and try the other. try swapping out known good parts until you find the culprit.

 

[iamlookingforthebathroom]

The PSU had fried and we replaced it. Thanks

 

[Old_Noob]

I realize this is an old thread but it fits my research and recent experience similar to that of the OP.

#1 One day PC shuts off. would not power up.
#2 Faulty PSU found (antec 650w two years old) there were literal burnt caps on the PSU board
#3 replaced with a Dell PSU.
#4 PC Still would not power on.
#5 Got new motherboard replaced old one. Booted fine to cmos. turned off PC.
#6 Connected old Hard Drive, turned on machine , BOOM >PC would not power on.
#7 Disconnected power and disconnected old hard drive.
#8 Reconnected power , PC would not power on. no indicator light on MB.

Evidently...... the HDD that was in the old system was so damaged by the old faulty PSU, that it even damaged the replacement motherboard.
Now i have two bad MBs and a HDD land mine.

 

[fzabkar]

The usual result of an overvoltage is that one or both of the HDD's TVS diodes will have gone short circuit to protect the more sensitive electronics. This causes the power supply to shut down. You will see a single kick of the fans and then nothing.

The solution in most cases is to remove the shorted diode with flush cutters. That's it.

See http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/TVS_diode_FAQ.html

... and http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/ (photo clips)

 

[Old_Noob]

that's the odd thing, no outward appearance of any damage anywhere on the HD controller board. TVS diode appears fine.

 

[fzabkar]

Visual inspection is inconclusive. You need to test the diodes.

 

[iamlookingforthebathroom]

I took the HDD to a guy who replaced the shorted diode. It now works but the mother board was fried also so i had to replace that too. Morale of the story : don't get cheap when buying a PSU